Problem: I have a website URL and I do not know if it’s safe to open?!

Have you been sent a URL and you do not know if the site has malware, is used for phishing, or has a bad reputation? VirusTotal has a URL checker that can identify problem websites before you open them:

Problem: I have an account somewhere and my account info has been posted on the internet!

You may have a number of on line accounts and when account breaches occur you may not be informed that your account information has been compromised. Your account info could then be available on the internet, in a practice called a ‘pawned’ account.

The following site has a listing of most accounts that have been compromised and their associated email address:

Problem: My computer web browser shows me a page that I cannot exit. I cannot exit the page, close my tabs or use any browser features at all!

There is a common browser scam in which a website can lock your browser session. The page typically will prompt you with a login prompt or Accept or OK button but no matter what click on the page remains active. A popular scam is the Tech Support Pop-Ups where the ad tells you that your computer has a virus and to call a tech support number.

Here are the steps to get your session back (Windows users):

Press <ctrl><alt><del> and from the Task manager select your browser, and stop the task

when you re-open your browser it will prompt you to restore the session. DO NOT restore your session, leave it closed and that by default will open a clean browser session (browser features may vary between versions but basically follow these steps).